Overbearing Immortal Doctor
Chapter 111 - 111 111 Taking Advantage of the Fire

111: Chapter 111 Taking Advantage of the Fire 111: Chapter 111 Taking Advantage of the Fire The families whose wheat fields were burned, upon hearing that the fire started from Wu Dade’s land and was related to his son Wu Mingming, immediately began to stir.

Villagers who were not directly affected also gathered to see what was going on.

“Dade, you must compensate us for the loss of our crops…”

“Exactly, my four acres were completely burned, not a single grain left.

How on earth are we supposed to live now?”

“…”

Wu Dade and his wife had not yet grasped how a magnifying glass could burn ants, and the villagers were already attacking them.

If they didn’t fight back, the blame would surely fall on their heads.

Wu Dade’s wife, Ma Qiujie, quickly wiped her tears and stood up, shouting, “Why are you all yelling?

Why should we compensate you?

Our wheat was burned completely too, who will compensate us?”

Wu Dade was Wu Xiaoyu’s close family, so Wang Aifeng knew it was not the time to add fuel to the fire.

She just stood aside, but the several other families were not so easy to placate.

The men, concerned about face, found it hard to speak up, but the women were unabashed; how could they let their wheat be burned without compensation?

“This fire was set by your son.

If you don’t compensate, who will?” retorted a Liu family’s wife.

In total, eight families’ wheat fields were burned; besides the two of their own, two families from the Li family, and the other four all belonged to the Liu family.

The moment the Liu family wife spoke, her sisters-in-law and aunts added fuel to the fire, “The police said the fire was set by your family.

How can you refuse to admit it?”

The main responsibility of the township police was to resolve conflicts and mediate disputes.

Though the cause of the fire was mostly clear, the verdict was not yet decided, and the villagers were already arguing fervently.

Director Liu quickly advised, “Everyone, calm down and listen to me…”

“The cause of the fire has been mostly investigated.

Compensation is inevitable, but this arguing all the time isn’t helping!”

“How exactly to compensate should be calmly discussed.

What can be resolved by all this noise?”

Director Liu intended to calm the villagers and stop their arguing, but to Ma Qiujie, his words only fueled her anger.

What did he mean by that?

Still insisting that her family must compensate?

Ma Qiujie questioned angrily, “What do you mean by that?

Why should our family compensate?”

“It’s not our fire!

Just because it started from our place, does that mean we should pay for it?

What kind of reasoning is that?”

Wu Dade saw his wife yelling at the police and quickly tried to pull her back, signaling her to shut up.

But she didn’t listen, and her anger only grew, shouting:

“You police, aren’t you too good at just doing the minimum?

Just picking up some random magnifying glass from the street and saying the investigation’s clear, asking us to compensate?”

Before Director Liu could rebut, several Liu family wives were already indignant, saying, “Do you think the police would wrong you?”

Director Liu, having worked in the local community for a long time and knowing the villagers’ level of education wasn’t high, quickly interrupted the women, saying, “We definitely wouldn’t do the minimum!”

“Magnifying glasses are made with convex lenses.

Convex lenses can concentrate light and heat.

If placed under the sun for a while, it can ignite flammable materials.

That’s why your son used it to burn ants!”

After hearing the police explain, the Liu and Li family women felt even more justified, saying, “Hear that?

Hear that?

Your Mingming started the fire.

If we don’t ask your family for compensation, who else?”

Ma Qiujie had already suspected the fire was caused by her son as he mentioned burning ants.

After hearing the police’s explanation, she was even more sure it was done by her little brat.

But if she admitted it, she’d have to compensate for the food.

So much wheat, how could her family afford to compensate?

She had no choice but to play dumb and make unreasonable arguments, “Even if the magnifying glass can start a fire, how can you be certain it ignited the big fire?”

The women were about to make a scene in rebuttal but saw Director Liu continue explaining, “These two comrades are responsible for fire scene examination, and they have confirmed the fire started where the magnifying glass was found, so the fire was indeed accidentally ignited by your son!”

The police had concluded this, leaving Ma Qiujie speechless, unable to rebut and not knowing where to start.

The Liu family women shouted again, “Just admit the compensation and be done with it.

We’re all villagers, no one would extort you!”

Upon hearing this, Ma Qiujie’s tears started again, how could her family afford to compensate all that wheat?

That brat, playing with fire, and in the field!

Anger, grievance, panic, helplessness…

lots of emotions swirling in her heart.

How could she have such a troublemaker as a son?

Ma Qiujie turned and kicked Wu Mingming.

Wu Mingming, over five years old, was already frightened seeing his mother besieged by several women.

Now, suddenly being kicked by her, he immediately burst into tears.

Wu Dade quickly pulled him behind himself, saying, “Why are you hitting the child?

The situation is already what it is, what’s the use of hitting him now?”

“This troublemaker, I’d beat him to death…” Ma Qiujie cried and cursed.

Seeing this scene, the Liu and Li family women no longer found it appropriate to keep demanding compensation and stood back to watch.

Village head Niu Mansheng saw they were no longer arguing and stepped forward to advise, “Everyone, disperse…

disperse!

Go harvest your crops, why stand here like fools!”

Recently, due to several disputes in the village, Niu Mansheng’s authority had diminished significantly.

However, he was still the head of the Niu family, and his words carried weight among the Niu Family.

Moreover, the fire hadn’t burned the Niu family’s fields, so the Niu people quickly dispersed, and the remaining folks grouped up in threes and fives to return to their fields to harvest wheat.

Only the Liu and Li families stayed around Wu Dade and his wife.

Director Liu, seeing them no longer arguing, wanted to assist in mediating the compensation but was persuaded to leave by the village head.

As for the beaten Wu Mingming, he had already been taken away by Wang Aifeng.

A Li family wife spoke up:

“Sister-in-law Qiuju, our family fields here total two acres.

Compensate us at seven hundred pounds of wheat per acre, and we’ll be okay!”

As soon as she finished, the other families also spoke up, with the Liu family even demanding a thousand pounds of wheat per acre.

It’s worth noting that the land in Daxin Village was not very fertile; producing ** hundred pounds per acre was already considered high yield.

The Liu families’ demand for a thousand pounds per acre was practically exploitation.